Moment of Fear
by kangaleigh
Summary: Ducky tells Tony and McGee about a time he saw Gibbs truly afraid. UPDATED! with second chapter!
1. The Story

**A/N: I'm not entirely sure what this is. Drabble, One-shot, Crack! fic. I don't know what these words mean, but one of them should fit. As for the story, yeah. I'm not sure what this is either. I read a story last night and this came to mind. Hope at least one person likes it. Oh yeah, and I don't own the characters.

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Moment of Fear

Ducky, Tony, and McGee were sitting at an outdoor café for lunch. Their current topic of discussion was the many faces of Gibbs and what each one meant. Even Ducky was finding it rather amusing. Of course, he already knew how to decipher the different Gibbs' glares. It was fun for him to listen to Tony and McGee try to figure them out.

"I wonder if he ever gets terrified," said McGee.

"Ha! I doubt he has a frightened face, let alone a terrified one!" Tony said.

Ducky held up his fork and finished chewing. "That's not true," he said then took a sip of his iced tea. "Contrary to what you all believe, Jethro is a human being with human emotions."

"But have you ever _seen_ him afraid?" McGee asked.

"One instance sticks out in my mind, yes," said Ducky without further explanation.

Tony and McGee waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. They thought this was strange since they usually can't talk about anything without Ducky being reminded of a 10 minute story. "Are you going to tell us about it?" McGee asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

Ducky sighed, contemplating the question. It wasn't as if it were a huge secret; it just happened a while ago. He wasn't sure how Gibbs would feel about the story being told. But he also didn't see any real reason why Gibbs would be upset. Deciding to keep a few details to himself, he finally agreed.

"This was a while ago. A couple of years before you joined NCIS, Tony. Jethro was in an interrogation room. The one that is now painted a darker shade of gray than the others-."

"The one on the end?" asked McGee, eyes widened. "He never goes in there."

"Yeah, I don't think I have ever seen him in there either. He'll interrogate a suspect at his desk before he goes in there," said Tony.

"He wouldn't go back in there after what happened," said Ducky, building the suspense.

"Its haunted, isn't it, Ducky?" Tony inquired. "Gibbs was in there when the walls started bleeding and telling him to get out, right?"

Ducky laughed. "No, nothing like that. Not really. I mean, there was some blood on the wall that the cleaners couldn't scrub off completely. That's why the room is painted darker than the others."

"But what happened?" Now Tony's curiosity was getting the best of him.

"Jethro was in the interrogation room talking with a young woman-."

"How young is young?" asked Tony.

"Late 20s. Now do you want to hear the rest of the story?"

"Sorry."

"Anyway, I hear she got very upset. Hysterical, even. Jethro tried to calm her down, but she fought with him. He told me he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up against the wall to try to subdue her. She suddenly went limp and looked as though she had fainted. He started sliding her down the wall to gently lay her down. Then he noticed the blood smeared on the wall. He pulled her away from and saw the back of her head was matted with blood and her hair. I guess he started screaming for someone to call 911. One of the other agents called for me to come up and examine her until the ambulance got there.

"When I walked into the room there was a couple of agents standing around. Gibbs was sitting on the floor with the woman's head in his lap. The poor girl was losing a lot of blood by the looks of it. And Gibbs was covered in it. All over the front of him. He told me he couldn't tell if she were breathing or not. That was when I saw that terrified look on his face. He thought he had killed her." Ducky didn't see a need to tell Tony and McGee that Gibbs was nearly hysterical himself.

"Wow," said McGee. "Gibbs roughed up a suspect."

"And a woman," Tony added.

"He didn't mean to hurt her. He was very upset about it."

"What happened to her, Ducky?"

"Well, Timothy, she ended up being alright. She was unconscious until the next morning. When she woke up, there was about 10 minutes when she couldn't remember anything, including her name. But it all came back to her and everything was fine."

"And she didn't sue Gibbs for assault?"

"She's probably in prison, Probie. What good would that have done?"

"She never went after Jethro in anyway. And she's not in prison. She didn't do anything. And it would undoubtedly be best if you didn't mention this to him. Or anyone else for that matter. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it to you two."

Tony and McGee agreed. The next 5 minutes they finished their lunch. The agents noticed they were going to be late and just couldn't wait to see Gibbs' furious face! Ducky told them lunch was on him. They thanked him and left. Ducky paid the bill and finished his tea. He knows he should trust the two young agents, but he still wondered if they would keep quiet.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Hello…I'm just about to head back…Actually, wanted to tell you something. I told Tony and McGee about what happened in that interrogation room…The accident between you and Jethro…Don't worry about that. They don't know its you. They think he was interrogating a suspect…Yeah…Are you really alright with this? I told them not to say anything but you know how they get. In fact, they will probably come to you first…Alright…I'll see you in a few minutes…Bye, Abby."

~The End~

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**A/N: Alright. I know it's a little weird. If any of you feel like writing a review, please be nice. I have a soft ego. lol.**


	2. What Really Happened

**A/N: Okay, this was originally only going to be just one chapter, but since a few of you asked to for it, I wrote about what happened between Gibbs and Abby. I was actually trying to do this all night! Even now, its just after 2 in the morning and I'm typing it up. lol. So here is the last, and final, chapter of **_**Moment of Fear**_**. I just hope I can do it justice.**

Chapter 2

"Hey, Gibb-lets! You're not calling to cancel lunch, are you?" Abby chimed through his phone. She had been trying out new nicknames to call him. (This one was his least favorite.) She sounded so chipper and happy. He didn't want to upset her or ruin her mood. But he had a job to do.

"Abby, I need to see you," he somberly said.

"Really?" she said in a teasing voice.

"Come up here."

She realized something was up and became serious. "What's wrong, Gibbs?"

"Abby…Please."

_Whoa. This must be serious_, she thought. "One my way."

"What's going on?" Abby asked when she got up to Gibbs' desk.

He looked around the squad room. There were a couple of agents around at their desk. "Come on," he said while standing. He led Abby to an empty interrogation room.

"What's happening? Am I in some sort of trouble?" She sounded a little worried, but what else was she supposed to think? She was in an interrogation room!

"No, you're not in trouble. I just wanted to talk to you alone." He motioned for her to sit down. Instead, she just crossed her arms. He sat on the edge of the table. "Claire was found in Robinson Park about an hour ago."

He watched Abby's eyes harden, but her expression stayed the same. "Claire who?"

He knew that she knew 'Claire who'. Claire Baxter was a fellow agent. Not to mention, Abby's best friend. While professional on duty, off duty she was just as big a Goth as Abby. Hardly a weekend went by that the two were not out at a club somewhere. Work permitting, of course. "Sorry, Abbs."

Her eyes started to shine from the tears welling up in them. "She's dead?" _He didn't say that she was dead. He just said they found her. Maybe she's_-.

"Yeah. She's dead."

Abby lost it. She started pacing the room and pulling at her hair to get her pig tails out. Pig tails were for happy times and she definitely was not happy. Gibbs wanted to give her some space so he stayed sitting. But then she started to breathe fast, shallow breaths. _She's hyperventilating_, he thought. She was facing the wall opposite of the door. She had her forehead and the palms of her hands pressed against the cool cement.

Gibbs stepped close to her and placed one hand on her back and the other on the wall next to hers. "You have to calm down, Abby. Come on, breathe. Take a deep breath."

She wasn't listening. It was like he wasn't even in the room. All she could see and hear was Claire. She saw her smiling, laughing, dancing. Just having a good time. Then she was screaming, bleeding, dying. Abby didn't know what had happened so her imagination created horrific scenarios. Abby hoped to God that none of those were true.

She couldn't catch her breath. She didn't want to. She slapped her palms against the wall and screamed. "No!" She finally let the tears that had been stinging her eyes fall. She slapped and screamed again. She felt Gibbs turn her around and heard him talking, but couldn't make any sense of it. She just wanted out.

"Stop," Gibbs said turning her around. He tried holding her arms, but she started hitting her fist against his chest and pushing him away. She was weak though. _She's still not taking deep breaths._ "Take a deep breath. Come on. You're gong to pass out, Abbs! Come on!" She was still fighting him though. He needed to get some control over her; make her calm down.

He took a hold of her shoulders and pushed her up against the wall. He felt her start to sag and held her up. "Abby?" Her eyes were closed. _I told her to breathe!_ He tried to gently lay her down, but the best way to do that was slide her down the wall. He got her halfway down when he noticed the trail of blood that was being left behind. He moved her away from the wall, leaning her against him, and felt the back of her head. It was soaking wet and sticky. She had taken her hair down earlier, so he couldn't see how bad the wound was.

He sat her on the floor with her head in his lap. The reality of what was happening started to soak in, just like her blood into his clothes. _I did this. I did this to her. I hurt her._ "Help," he said in a regular speaking volume. It took him a couple of seconds to find his voice. "Help!" he screamed this time. "Help! I need an ambulance. Somebody!"

The door flew open. "Oh God," said the agent standing in it.

"Call 911!" Gibbs yelled. The agent disappeared. Now he was having a hard time catching his breath. A couple of other agents gathered in the room. Gibbs shrugged his coat off and placed it under Abby's head. His eyes started to sting. The agent that had first found them came back in and said the ambulance would be here soon. "God, Abby. Wake up. Wake up!" He leaned down to see if she was breathing, but he couldn't tell. He was starting to hyperventilate. He was saying her name over and over when he heard Ducky's voice.

"Jethro, what the hell happened?"

"I pushed her. Against the wall. I was just trying to calm her down. I didn't think I pushed her that hard." Gibbs felt a couple of tears slowly roll down his cheek. He didn't care who was in the room. "I can't tell if she's breathing. Is she alive?"

Ducky lifted Abby up enough to check out the back of her head. "She needs to get to a hospital now."

"Damn, Ducky. I did this. I killed her. I killed Abby."

"Jethro, you're hyperventilating. Slow down." Even in his state of panic, Gibbs realized the irony. He was doing exactly what he was trying to stop Abby from doing.

The ambulance quickly arrived and took Abby away. Gibbs wanted to ride with her, but Ducky suggested he change his clothes before heading to the hospital. And possibly take a shower.

He stayed at the hospital all day and night with her. He was there when she woke up in the morning. He got so angry with himself when she couldn't remember who she was. When her memory came back, she still couldn't remember the previous day. Gibbs hated having to tell her about Claire and seeing her go through all that again. Telling her about why she was in the hospital because of him was the hardest part. He imagined Abby yelling and screaming at him. Telling him to get out and away from her forever.

But she didn't do any of that. She didn't get angry and she didn't yell. She just gave him a small, sad smile and told him to, "just forget about it. I have." And while he never did forget it, they never brought it up again.

~The REAL End!~


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